Improvement in refrigerating apparatus



J. L. ALBERGER.

Air Cooler.

Patented Aug. H, 1863.

lnventor:

witnesses: ?i

AM. PHOTD'LITHO CD.N.Y. (OSBORNE'S PRDCESS.)

4 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE,

J. L. ALBERGER, OF BUFFALO, NEWV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent NO. 39,456, dated August 11, 1863.

To cZZ whom it may concer:

Be it known that I, J. L. ALBERGER, o Bu'alo, in the County of Eric and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in artificially cooling cars, rooms, buildings, apartnents, chests, &0.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description rhereot', reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this speciflcation, in which- The figure represents a vertical section through an apartment and through the cooling apparatus, so as to show the general characteristics of the invention, it being obvious that various modifications ot' this general plan may be made to apply it to special purposes or peculiar localities.

My invention consists in the use of an apparatus having a cooling or evaporating chamber, in connection with an inclosed apartment, and with pipes or tubes through which the air in the` apartment to be cooled and dried passes by a natural current, said tubes or pipes being, for the better retention of the evaporating fluid in contact with them, covered with cloth or other material that will become saturated with the fluid and retain it thus in contact, and be subjected to a forced current of air driven through or between them.

To enable others skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same in connection with the drawing.

A may represent the apartment to be cooled, and B the cooling apparatus.

The cooling apparatus is constructed as follows: An outer case, a, having two heads, b b', connected so as to make it tight against the external air, :is used. Through the interior of this case are passed a series of air-passages, c, which may be vertical or horizontal, and composed of tubes, pipes, or partition-sheets, as may be preferred, so as to make an extended surface, said air-passages at their top and bottom, or at both ends, being open to the atmosphere of the room, chamber, or apartment to be cooled. An interior head or partition, d, is also provided, so as to furnish a chamber, 0, above the cooling-chamber B, and overthe chamber O there is a reservoir, D, for containing the water or other evaporating fluid used. At the lower end of the cooling-chamber there is an airtrap, E, that will'allow the condensed fluid of the cooling-chamber to escape without admitting air therein. The fluid of condensation from the cooling-chamber B, as well as that from the ainpassages, is caught in a pan or other receiver, F, placed under the apparatns, or carried away by a pipe. Gr is an air pipe or passage leading from the outside of the apartment that is to be cooled and into the cooling chamber B. His an exit pipe, leading from the coolingchamher to a chimney or to theexternal air, to carry off the vapors or gases that may arise from 'the evaporating fluid in the cooling-chamber. The air may be driven into or through the cooling-chamber by a fan, I, worked by machinery, or, as in a car, by a cowl, or by a fan or bellows worked from the running-gear of the car. I have shown the fan as driven by a mainspring, J, through cog and pinion gears K and L; -but the current of air' may be produced in any other wellknown manner.

The tubes for forming the air-passages c, I have represented as covered on their surfaces, next the cooling-chamber, with cloth e, for the purpose of insuring their contact with the evaporatin g fluid without using said fluid in excessive quantities. I do not restrict my invention to the use of this or any other covering material, for it may be dispensed with entirely, though its use would be beneficial. The extended evaporating-surface may be obtained otherwise than by tubes or partitions-as, for instance, by pebbles, or by any mineral or metallic substances not so closely laid but that the air may be freely forced through, over, or in contact With their moistened surfaces.

The evaporating fluid which I propose to use is water, made c'ool by ice or otherwise; but other fluids-such as ether, naphtha, and many other vofatile fluids possessing similar characteristics--may be used, and it is in contemplation partially of such fluids, whose vapors are unpleasant, that I propose to blow the air through and out of the chamber or apartment, though I rely on the through-current for producing rapid evaporation. This cooling of the air of a chamber or apartment may be applied to other purposes instead of comfort only to the occupants-as, for instance, freight cars carrying perishable products maybe thus kept cool for days, and thus preserve such articles.

The operation ofthis apparatus is as follows: 'I he reservoirD having been supplied with any evaporating fluid, it is allowed to pass in regulated quantities through the pipe fand chamber O onto the head d, whence it filters through the cloth e, if used; it' not, passes through the opening between the pipes and head (shown as occupied by the cloth in the drawing) and irickles down, moistenin g the surfaces thereof. The fan or other air-forcin g contrivance, being set in motion, forces a current of air through the cooling-chamber in contact with the wet or moistened sui-faces, which takes 'np the moisture and tlus rendere the metal cool. The cooled metal in turn cools the air in the air-passages, and it descends, followed by the -warmer strata above it, through the air-passages, and out at the ends thereof, and into the lower part ot' the room or apartment, creating a current through the air-passages. As this cooled air becomes hcated again in the apartment, it rises to the top thereof and again is circulated down through the air-passages, where it is again cooled by contact with the cooled surf'aces of the air-passages, and thus a continued circulation of air is kept up and cooled in the apartment so long as the reservoir is supplied With the fluid and the current of air is forced through the coolingchamber. The external walls of the room or apartment may be made double, to contain dead-air space, or may be filled with non-conductng material, so as to retain the cooled air within it. It will be understood that the air in passing through the passages c becomes dried as well as cooled by its moisture condensing on the surface of the metal forming the passage.

I have said that the through current carries off the Vapors that would otherwise be unpleasant in the use of such Volatile liquids or fiuids mentioned. I do not mean that this is the sole purpose of the through-current, for I depend on the through current for rapid evaporation of the cooling liquid, and an immediate removal of the vapor to produce the desired eft'ect.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my invention, what I claim is An app-aratus, constructed substantially as hercin described, for cooling the air of a closed apartment by causing it to circulate naturally or unt'orced through the apartment, and through and in contact With pipes or plates which are artihcially cooled by an evaporating fluid and a forced current of air, in the manner substantially and for the purpose descrbed.

J. L. ALBERGER.

Witncsses JOHN ENGLISH, GI-Is. GALLAHAN. 

